The present invention is directed to the field of lawn edging. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a lawn and garden edging capable of watering a plot adjacent the edging.
Early attempts at watering lawn or garden plots were accomplished using an anchored sprinkling hose as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,800. Most other edging configurations incorporating a watering function have generally been very little more than glorified sprinkler hoses with improved anchors. U.S. Pat. Nos. including 4,702,034; 4,945,675; 5,232,159; and 5,535,545 fall in this category.
Typically, combined watering and edging devices of this type are made in 10-20 foot lengths of flexible material which is coiled in the manner of most edging. The garden or lawn plot that this edging best accommodates is curved or round while most lawns and gardens are square or rectangular. The edging patterns that can be accommodated are limited. Further, the plastics that this flexible, hose-like edging is made of is subject to degradation by rays from the sun causing it to become brittle and can fall victim to freeze/thaw rupture, as well, if not fully evacuated in the fall. Additionally, most of the designs employ separate fixtures for making connections, extra pieces to become separated from the edging and which, if lost, can render the edging at least partially inoperative. These connectors, too, restrict the bends in the region of the junction since stretching can cause the connectors to become dislodged or leak. Several of the edging designs have special sprinkler nozzles attached to the hose portion of the edging. In addition to increasing the complexity and expense of manufacturing such devices, should a nozzle break off the entire 10-20 foot section will fail to operate as designed since the now enlarged orifice will become the path of least resistance so that water will not flow out of the other nozzles.
The lawn edging having watering capability of the present invention remedies these defects. The present lawn edging is made as sections of a rigid (stiff) plastic. Each section, which may range in length from nine inches to two feet but is preferably a foot long, has an integral water conduit extending its entire length with an attached male fitting and a female fitting at opposite ends thereof. These fittings preferably extend vertically so that adjacent sections can pivot on the axis of the attached fittings enabling the lawn edging of the present invention to enclose perimeters of diversely shaped plots. The sections of the lawn edging of the present invention is particularly well adapted to enclose rectangular plots with the right angle turns not kinking the water flow path, as happens with other designs.
A special section is provided for attachment of a water supply to the edging. This section is similar in most respects to the other edging sections with the exception that it is shorter in length and has a female connector to threadingly attach an end of a hose. By inserting the special section in the middle of an extended length of lawn edging, water can be distributed through a substantial length of edging. For example, water was distributed through 40 feet of edging with no indication that the limits of the water pressure had been reached. Each section (special and regular) is comprised of a bottom portion which has a plurality of subsections, with each subsection including insertion facilitating means and removal resisting means. The insertion facilitating means comprises v-shaped points between adjacent subsections and a cutting edge formed on a lead portion of each subsection so that the cutting edge may easily subdivide the soil, cut sod, break up clods, etc., as the edging is pressed or tapped in place. The removal resisting means comprises a series of teeth or ledges formed on a v-shaped laterally protruding flange which extends from each side of each v-shaped point. An upper portion is joined to the lower portion with a lateral reinforcing flange at the juncture. The upper portion has a plurality of reinforcing ribs extending vertically between the flange and the water conduit. The water conduit is generally trapezoidal in cross section with one of its parallel surfaces forming an upper edge of the edging section. This flat upper surface provides a force-receiving portion for application of downward pressure (pressing or tapping) during insertion. The edging of the present invention is available from EMSCO Group, Girard, Pa. under the trademark WATER'S EDGE.TM. lawn and garden edging.
An additional feature of the present invention involves the method in which the sections are made. The edging of the present invention is formed by injection molding; a gas assist nozzle is used to create the water conduit on the top portion of each section. A tube with a 45.degree. angle on the top forms the surface around which the female fitting is molded. While the insides of the edging section is still molten, a high velocity jet of nitrogen is pushed through the tube, the 45.degree. angle inducing a turn in the direction of the stream which pushes the molten material out the male fitting, effectively coring out the water channel in the upper portion of the edging section.
Other features, advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following specification.